Midpoint
by mozzi-girl
Summary: When Mal is shot, he wakes up in an unfamiliar place, The Midpoint. Seeing some unlikely previous characters he has to make a decision, then act upon the given requests. Fluff will be included - Warning: Spoilers from Volume 9 Interlude and my take on it.
1. Chapter 1

_Midpoint_

_**Warning! SPOILER ALERT! This story does contain spoilers from the recent On Demand episode of Cause of Death: Volume 9 Interlude. And then continues my take on it, thanks for reading and enjoy! :)**_

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_**Natara Williams POV**_

Despite it being a Saturday, Mal and I still had to go to work, because apparently some new psychopath decided to alter their MO slightly. My first thought was that they were evolving, meaning that we had to act fast.

I was sat in the passenger side of Mal's squad car, Mal driving. I had my head stuck in a file about the killer, mentally creating a profile of him or her. The radio was quietly playing, breaking the lingering silence that had befallen over us all ever since I had told Mal about the engagement. He told me that he was happy for me, but I could see it in his eyes; hear it in his tone; tell by his body movements, that he was anything but happy for me. It's understandable, Mal always held a grudge against Oscar when we broke up the first time, it's no wonder he doesn't want me to marry him. I keep glancing up at Mal, but he doesn't notice, and keeps his eyes fixed on the road. The silence is unbearable for me; I used to be able to talk to him about anything, but now... I feel like I don't ever want to bother him, especially after what happened with Ken, then losing Amy. No matter how he tries to cover it up, I know he's still hurting from Ken's death and Amy's disappearance has made an effect on him too. He's more closed to even me now, but I wish he wouldn't be, I wish he'd talk to me about what's bothering him.

I don't realize that I sigh rather loudly, causing Mal to quickly glance over at me, catching my gaze for a brief moment, before I look away.

"Hey... You alright?" He asks, turning back to the road.

"Um... yeah, fine."

I see Mal roll his eyes and shake his head; I know he knows I'm lying. I couldn't even come up with a better excuse than 'fine.' Ugh.

"No you're not." He states, not even glancing at me.

"... Okay, fine. No, I'm not."

"Why?"

"It's just... this case." I lied. "I'm just a little worried about how quickly this killer is evolving, Mal. He's changing his MO, he's getting better."

"Natara..." Mal sighed. "Look, we'll catch him. We always do."

"Yeah... I know."

Mal didn't say anything else the entire journey, and pulled up in the car park. He jumped out the car first, me shortly following. I had my bag slung over my shoulder and a huge stack of files in my hands. I trailed behind Mal, but when he noticed I wasn't beside him, turned around and I noticed a miniscule smile tug at his lips. He walked over to me and wordlessly took a few files from my hands.

"Thanks." I said, smiling.

"No prob."

Mal held the door open for me as I walked inside the busy precinct. As normal, it was bustling with life: the lingering smell of morning coffee hung in the air; the orders of Captain Yeong could be heard near her office; Officers and Detectives rushed about, sometimes bumping into each other, exchanging a quick 'Sorry' before continuing their duty, and finally the strangely irking sound of criminals being dragged in for questioning. Mal led us both to his office and set the files down on my desk, I imitated his actions and set my bad down beside my chair. Taking a deep breath, I scanned the room and placed my hands on my hips.

"Right then," I started, gaining Mal's attention. "Where do you wanna start?"

"Profile?" He suggested and I mentally slapped myself.

"Of course, duh." I let out a nervous laugh and cleared my throat. "Well: Male; 20-30 years old; quite reserved but is becoming more confident over time; average killing over the span of one week. I'm afraid that's all I have right now though."

"It's alright, we can work with this."

Mal flashed me the famous Fallon-grin and turned on his heels, heading in the direction of the Crime Lab. I smiled to myself for a short moment before rushing after him, dodging a number of officers as I went. Before we could enter though, Jeremy Redbird stepped in front of us, a proud grin on his face.

"Detective, Lt. Anders wants to speak to you... you know, about-"

"Yeah, whatever." He turned to me. "Nat, why don't you go ahead, I'll catch up."

I nodded, and didn't question him as he followed Jeremy to Lt. Anders office, no matter how much I wanted to. Mal had just been reinstated, apparently something happened over the time he was away, but wouldn't tell me what exactly. He just said he was 'out of town'. This was another sign that he was shutting me out.

I glanced down at my left hand, seeing the sparkling diamond ring looking back at me. I sighed and fiddled with it for a short moment. Was I even ready to do this? Marrying Oscar, when I hadn't even been able to bring myself to tell him that I loved him yet, it just didn't feel right. So why did I say yes?

I shook myself out of these thoughts and continued down to the Crime Lab. I couldn't be thinking like that, I said yes because... because... I care about him. Yeah, that's why. I care deeply about Oscar, and that's all there is to it. Right?

"Hey Boom Bottie!" Kai called, looking up from whatever he was doing.

"Hey Kai, got those results yet?"

"Yup! Hey... where's Maligator?" Kai asked, turning away and printing off the results I needed.

"Speaking with Lt. Anders." I stated, taking the documents from him. "Thanks."

"You're Welcome. He's... not in trouble again, right?" Kai asked quietly, glancing around as if to check no one else was here.

"I'm... not sure." I looked to the floor, biting my lower lip. "Anyway, thanks again Kai, cya."

I heard Kai mumble a goodbye before returning to his work. He hadn't been the same since Amy left either, a lot more... docile. It was strange and I kind of missed his usual overly bubbly attitude. Jogging back up the stairs, my eyes reading over the file in front of me, I almost bumped straight into Mal. He caught me before I did though, and I felt a light blush burn on my cheeks.

"Oop. Careful." He said, smiling.

"Sorry, everything alright?"

"Yeah," He shrugged. "Guess so. Got it?"

"Yep! And it's a goldmine Mal, come on; I think I've got it figured out."

"Ah, now that's what I like to hear! My little brain box is hard at work again." He chuckled and I rolled my eyes playfully.

"Yeah, yeah. Move it." I said before giggling.

* * *

Sure enough, we had it figured out. The killer was a Harold Parkman, hiding just off the coast of Fishermans Warf; and area Mal and I knew well. When Mal pulled up, we sat still for a moment, exchanging looks.

"Ready?" He said, racking his gun.

"Ready." I echoed, doing the same.

We exited the car at the same time and slinked our way over to the old, abandoned house. I placed my finger over my lips, signalling to be quiet, as I peered my head in the window. It looked empty. I turned to Mal and nodded, gaining one in return before he turned the handle and slowly made his way inside. I quickly got up and followed behind, drawing my gun and keeping it in front of me.

"You take the left, I'll go right." I whispered.

Mal nodded and headed left, while I went right. In moments he was out of sight and I could hear my heartbeat in my chest. It was so eerily silent, something I had always hated. I tried to step lightly, the sunlight providing little light through the dusty windows. I heard a clutter of something nearby and spun around in the direction of the noise. I held my gun up a little higher, preparing myself for the worst, and made my way forward. Before I rounded the corner though, I heard the sound of two gunshots in the left side of the house. Panic immediately filled my mind.

"Mal!" I called rushing to his aid.

It all seemed to happen so fast, that I can hardly recall anything.

I turned the corner and scanned every room, trying to find him. I radioed an ambulance even before I had found anyone, knowing from the lack of more gunshots, someone was hurt or worse.

"Mal, where are you?" I shouted, my voice echoing through the labyrinth of hallways.

I stayed silent for a brief moment, hearing a low groan in the room beside me. Without hesitating, I flung open the door and gasped. Mal was laying on the floor, in a pool of his own deep red blood, the killer metres from him, a single bullet wound in his head.

"Oh my God, Mal!" I screamed rushing over to him and collapsing by his side. "Mal?"

He groaned again, clutching a wound near his lung. I gently moved his hand away and applied pressure to it, making him wince.

"Sorry... Mal, it's going to be alright." My voice was shaking slightly. "I promise, you'll be fine. J-Just hang on, the ambulance is coming."

He looked up at me, pain evident in his features, and shook his head. I felt my lip quiver, but knew I had to keep my composure.

"Stop it," I scolded lightly "You're okay, you'll be okay."

"N-Nat..." He said weakly, but I shushed him.

"Don't talk Mal, focus on your breathing."

He made a sound what I think was a sigh and reached up his bloody hand to my face. I didn't stop him, but glanced down at the wound, watching as the ungodly amounts of blood seeped through my fingers, staining my hands. I pressed harder, determined to stop it, I wasn't losing him. Not now. My breathing was shaky as I looked into his deep blue eyes, watching as they were slowly closing.

"Mal, k-keep your eyes open... p-please."

I tried my hardest to stop the flow of tears forcing their way out of my eyes, but I couldn't. As soon as I allowed the first one to fall, the rest did. They blurred my vision, but faintly in the distance I could hear the ambulance.

"Hear that Mal? It's coming, just hold on..."

Mal smiled slightly, wincing in pain as I pressed a little harder, and brushed his thumb below my eyes, wiping away the tears. He was getting weaker by the second, but I wasn't going to lose him. I had lost too many people this year, no more.

"Mal..."

He didn't have the energy to hold his hand up anymore and it dropped to his side. I watched his eyes the entire time, whispering comforting things to him, praying that the ambulance would hurry. But no matter how much I tried, he grew weaker. And weaker. In the last few moments as the ambulance neared he started closing his eyes, started to fade.

"Mal, don't." I begged, removing one hand from his wound and touching his cheek.

He looked like he tried so hard to keep them open, but couldn't. His eyelids slid shut and his head lolled to the side. I panicked.

"Mal?" I said shaking him slightly. "Mal?"

I was shaking, tears flowing freely from my eyes as he lay there, completely still.

"_Mal_!" I screamed. "Oh God... no. _No_! Wake up! Please, wake up!"

I did the only thing I could think of. Cry, and attempt to resuscitate him. The ambulance still nowhere in sight...

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_**Mal Fallon's POV**_

I woke up, lying on something soft. My eyes warily opened and I looked around at the scene before me. All I could see was a bunch of white.

'_I'm in a hospital.' _I thought.

Then I opened my eyes a little wider and sat up, looking around, expecting to see various medical equipment and maybe Natara by my side, but there was nothing. It was literally just white, with slightly tinted pinks and reds, appearing like a sunset. It looked kind of like clouds, if I was honest with myself. I looked around again, confused, and pulled myself to my feet.

"Where the hell am I?" I said to no one in particular, my voice resonant through the vast oblivion.

"Now, now Malachi, we don't use that language here."

I heard a soft, familiar voice call out from behind me, but... that was impossible. I slowly turned around, my eyes falling on a young woman with deep blue eyes and fair skin, her wavy, shoulder length hair pulled behind her ear. She wore a floor length white dress that flowed in the light wind. I stood there, my mouth agape, wide-eyed. It couldn't be... could it?

"Mom?" I mumbled.

She smiled at me, joy apparent on her features. Sure enough, my mother, Angela Fallon, stood before me. She looked younger, healthier than I remember her being, then again all I seem to recall is the bad things lately.

"Hello Malachi." She said gently, her voice sounding like a song to my ears. "It's been a long time."

"Yeah... It has. W-What's going on? Where am I? Why are you here?"

I wanted to ask so many more questions, but I needed to know these few first. My mum just smiled, before appearing to glide over to me and looking me in the eye. She was so radiant and seemed full of life. But that was impossible. She was dead.

"You're at the midpoint, Son." She started, gesturing all around her. "You're here because you have a choice to make, a choice that not many people get to have. It's the place that most people see when they die, so they think this is Heaven. It's not; Heaven is so much better, and not as... white."

"_Heh_. So... I'm, like, dead right now?"

It sounded so strange to say that aloud, almost confirming that it might be true.

"In a way, yes."

"_Great_." I said sarcastically, making my mum laugh.

I had missed her laugh, and everything about her. She used to be my light in the dark when I was a teenager, but then... she got ill, extremely fast and before I knew it, I was attending her funeral and saying my last ever Goodbye to her; or that's what I thought until now.

"Sweetie, we don't have much time, you have to make a choice whether or not to come with me or go back."

"W-Why? How can I go back?"

"I'll explain later, but right now, there's someone I know you've been dying to see. Oops, pardon the pun." She giggled and I chuckled.

"Hey Buddy." I heard nearby and spun around to see Ken Greene stood before me in a bright white suit.

"Ken?"

I grinned at the sight of my best friend and rushed over to him, giving him a quick man hug. He laughed and pulled away, slipping his hands into his pockets.

"What bring you here then Fallon? Piss Natara off too much?" He chuckled.

"_Kenneth_." My mum scolded.

"Sorry Angela." He muttered and cleared his throat.

"Actually Ken," I started, looking to the floor. "I kind of got shot... again."

He laughed and shook his head. I looked back up at him and smiled, glancing over to my mother to make sure she was still there.

"Of course, why didn't I see it coming?"

"Yeah, I know... I-It's good to see you, man."

"Good to see you too Buddy, but, you know, we never actually leave. I can see you whenever I want to, you just can't see me."

"Whoa... really?"

"Yup, the wonders of the dead."

"Mal, honey, we have to be quick. Pretty soon that darling partner of yours will give up and... Well, then the choice will be gone." My mum interrupted and I looked at her.

She strolled over and stood next to Ken, who glanced at her and smiled.

"Your Mom is too cool, just saying." He commented and my mum rolled her eyes.

"Sorry you have to put up with him Mom." I quipped and Ken chuckled.

"It's fine, he's good company. Anyway, there is one more person who wished to talk to you before... well, you know."

"I make the choice, I get it."

Ken and Mum looked over to their left and I followed their gaze, my eyes falling on the one and only Tasha King, wearing a knee length white dress.

"Oh My G-"

Mum cleared her throat and I cut off mid sentence. Tasha walked up to me and smiled, staring into my eyes. I felt all the guilt and heartache returning, after I had tried so hard to get rid of it.

"Hey Mal. I've missed you." She said, still smiling.

"Same here." I replied, breaking eye contact.

"Mal, the reason I wanted to speak with you is to tell you this: Stop feeling guilty about my death, it wasn't your fault."

"How can you say that? Of course it was my fault, I should have gotten you out of their straight away, not spoke to you about-"

"Mal." She scolded. "Enough, my death was unfortunate, yes, but you tried to save me. You did save me, but then... it just happened. You couldn't have stopped it, believe me."

"But... It's not fair."

"Your right, it isn't fair, but we live and then we die. Some life spans are longer than others, but I don't regret anything. Especially when I was with you."

I looked into her eyes and felt a small smile tug at the corner of my lips. I pulled her close to me in a hug and felt her wrap her arms around me. We shared a long moment before she pulled away and took a deep breath.

"We're all okay now, Mal. We're all safe and happy and we watch over you sometimes, making sure you stay out of trouble." She giggled and I blushed a little.

Tasha joined Ken and Mum and they all smiled at me. I couldn't help but return one; the people I had missed and cared about so much were right before me.

"Alright Mal, it's time." Mum said softly and I nodded.

"I... I want to go with you." I said and a look of shock passed across their faces.

"Whoa, buddy, no way!"

"Hey, you said it was my choice, I want to stay, with you all."

"Mal, listen to me." Ken said grabbing my shoulders. "Yes, you do have the choice, but you have to make the _right _one."

"I am."

"No, Mal, you're not."

"... I don't have anything to go back for." I mumbled, looking to the ground.

"What are you talking about, man? You have Natara."

"No... No I don't. Oscar has Natara... they're-"

"Getting Married... I know. But Mal, you have so much to go back for. Dying this early on in life isn't a good thing, believe us. You have a choice. Not many people do, you have to wait until your time to die."

I looked around and noticed them all nodding.

"Natara needs you, and I'm not really supposed to tell you this, but I've heard her, at night. She talks to herself sometimes when she's alone. You know what she says?"

I shook my head.

"She says that she's confused, she's lost, and she doesn't know what she's doing or how she feels anymore. She's worried about this marriage, because she doesn't know how she feels about Oscar. Natara said yes because she wants to be loved Mal. You know she does."

"I... I know, but, what am I supposed to do?"

"Guide her. Show her what she needs to do, and talk to her. She wants you to talk to her, to open up to her about our deaths and about Ames leaving... speaking of which, can I ask you a favour buddy?"

"Sure."

"Tell Ames that I love her... and that I'm okay. Help her. Because Amy is even more confused and lost than Natara is. She doesn't know what to do anymore, and she needs someone she can rely on. Look after her for me?"

I nodded. "Of course I will Buddy."

Ken gave me a quick man hug and sighed. "Thanks."

"Alright then... I guess I have to kind of go back don't I?"

"Yes Malachi, you do." Mum said. "Also, thank you for looking after Jacob, Mal. Being there for him, despite his faults."

"Yeah... well, he's still my Dad, no matter what I do." I shrugged. "Well, best get going then... I'll miss you. All of you."

"We're never far away Mal." Tasha said gently and hugged me.

She kissed my cheek before walking away, fading into the distance. My mother kissed my forehead and squeezed me tightly before doing the same and I was left with Ken.

"Right. Well, Goodbye Buddy. I'll see you... hopefully in a long time."

It sounded weird, but I got his drift. I nodded and sighed.

"Yup, Cya soon Ken. Now, how do I actually go back?"

"It's simple. Close your eyes."

I looked at my best friend one last time and smiled, gently sliding my eyes shut, being consumed by the darkness and felt a little like I was falling.

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**_Review? :)_**


	2. Chapter 2

_Midpoint_

_**Hey everyone... To be honest I'm a little upset right now :/ Earlier today I had my second science exam and actually failed it – normally I have a little faith in myself but... ouch. Nothing that we had studied was on the exam paper, especially about space and that irked me and everyone else so much it was unreal. The upside? I haven't got any more exams until June and that's only Geography which in all honesty, I don't give a damn about! So that means... more time for writing and drawing! Yay! :D Just a heads up, this chapter is a little shorter than the previous one but that's only because I wanted to write a longer chapter next time! **_

_**Thanks to everyone who read/reviewed/followed or subscribed! Means the world!**_

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_**Review Replies:**_

_**Bananaballer13 – **__**Aww it's all good! I know how stressful studying can be :/ Pain in the buttocks! Thank you so much! I'm glad you like it! Random idea that popped into my head, so happy it did now! :)**_

_**Oryt (Hannah) – **__**Oops. Sorry about that, never meant to make anyone cry! :3 Hehehe, I know what you mean, but he's needed on earth for now I'm afraid! You'll see why in later chapters, I'm aiming to keep it quite a short story though, can't be having too long stories anymore! Nah, it doesn't make you a bad person at all! :D Aww thanks, glad you liked it! :) (Still missing your PM's! Can you PM others at all?) **_

_**HopelessRomantic1994 (Jade) – **__**Wow, thank you so much! I literally read your review and smiled like an idiot! XD Oops! Another person that cried, terribly sorry! :) No way, seriously? My stories are your favourites! Whoop! :D Thank youuuu! (You have such a beautiful name btw! I love it!)**_

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_**Mal Fallon's POV**_

I could hear the distant screaming of someone calling my name, before feeling a pair of soft lips press against mine and force air into my lungs. My eyes shot open and I took a deep breath, causing the person to jump back. I felt the sharp sting from my gunshot wound, which was still bleeding considerably, and looked around. I was still on my back but sat before me I saw Natara, staring at me with wide-eyes, crying heavily and her lip quivering. Despite the tears falling onto her cheeks, I noticed a small smile tug at the corners of her cherry lips.

I could hear the sirens of the ambulance nearby and before I knew it, Natara was hugging me tightly, unable to speak, all the while keeping pressure on my wound. Paramedics burst through the door and took me away on a stretcher. Natara was covered in blood; my blood and I couldn't speak. I wanted to tell her everything, but couldn't. I felt so weak – so drained and just stared up at her as she jogged beside the gurney, her hand in mine, squeezing it lightly reassuringly.

"You're alright, Mal... It's alright." She repeated numerous times, but I guessed it was more to comfort herself than me, which was a good thing; I needed her to be calm.

I looked up to her to see her make-up had run down her face and stained her cheeks, her hair was ruffled and she was covered in blood, but she still looked beautiful. I don't know if it was my 'death' experience or just that I had lost a little too much blood, but right then I wanted to tell her everything. Everything I felt towards her, how I saw her and how much she meant to me. I tried to speak but all that came out was a low, pained moan. Natara looked down, concerned, but a paramedic reassured her, saying that they were going to put me under for a short while when we got to the hospital. I hated being operated on, it always made me worry, especially with the amount of blood I was losing.

We arrived at the hospital quicker than I had expected, but time seemed to blur at this point in time, I fell unconscious a number of times, waking up to Natara having fresh tears in her eyes. I attempted to touch her cheek and comfort her, but couldn't. I couldn't do anything but watch her with weak eyes. As I was wheeled to the operating room, Natara had to be left behind. I didn't want her to be alone, or be alone myself, but knew that I was going to come out of this alive. I had to; I made a promise to Ken - to my best friend - that I would look after Natara and Amy. And I was going to keep that promise, if it killed me.

* * *

_**Natara Williams POV**_

I watched as Mal was pulled away from me, going to the operating room. I had tried _so_ hard to stop myself from crying and regain my composure, but the more I tried, the more tears came. It was like my body was fighting against me. I stood in the shiny hallway and waited until he was out of sight, before turning numbly and trudging towards the visiting room.

When I entered, I glanced around noticing the number of worried faces and unbeknown children wandering around: There was a young woman with a little boy on her lap, gently swaying back and forth and holding him close to her, like if she let go he would disappear, and hot tears rolling silently down her cheeks; A man was pacing around the room, his shoes making light tapping sounds across the floor; A little girl sat on the ground near her father, playing with a doll; and another young woman with her head hung low and I couldn't see her face.

I sighed and flopped into an empty chair, the young woman with the little boy was next to me. I saw her glance over to me and go wide-eyed, like I was a threat or something scary. I raised an eyebrow but then looked down at my hands.

"Oh my..." I muttered.

My hands and once white shirt and black jacket were stained with the deep red colour of blood. _Mal's blood_. It made me feel sick, knowing the amount of blood he had actually lost, but he would pull through... he had to... he always did.

I must have sat there for hours, every tick from the clock echoing loudly through the eerie silence that befell the room. My tears had finally stopped, leaving my eyes burning with soreness, but the pain and worry I felt deep within my chest was still there. Never leaving for a second. I was growing tired, but walked over a number of times and got some coffee, watching as the hot liquid shook in my unsteady hands.

Eventually I looked up at the clock and saw the time was around 8pm. I was about to sigh when the doors flung open and made everyone jump. I directed my gaze over to the figure, hoping that it was a doctor coming to tell me some good news, but instead I saw the panicked face of Blaise Corso, her eyes darting around the room. They eventually fell on me and I saw her stumble backwards, gasping. She rushed over and took a seat beside me.

Only now did I notice her appearance: her hair was messy and pulled out of its usual ponytail, flowing down just below her shoulders; her skin was pale, like she had just seen a ghost; her clothes were crinkled; and her eyes were puffy and red, I knew she had been crying, but she tried to hide it.

"I-Is that... _his_?" She stuttered, panting from running all the way here.

I just nodded in reply and saw her facial expression drop even lower; she took a long shaky breath and ran a hand through her hair.

"H-He's going to be alright... right?"

"I believe so, he always is."

She swallowed hard and bit her lip. Tears formed themselves in her light blue eyes and she was shaking, but I reached over and took her hand. She flashed me a grateful smile and squeezed my hand, staring down at the ungodly amount of dried blood staining it.

We sat together in silence for a long time, neither of us saying a word or releasing our hands. Blaise rocked slightly and I could tell she was nervous. It was an unusual side of her to see, since she normally kept her cool over anything. We had gotten off to a rough start, but was slowly learning to put up with each other.

"Natara?" She whispered, once again looking at our hands.

"Yes."

"What's that?" She said, gesturing to my finger where a beautiful blood-stained diamond ring lay.

"Oh... nothing, it doesn't matter right now."

"It's from Oscar isn't it?"

"...Yes."

"Oh..." I could sense a sort of disappointment in her voice, but shrugged it off. "Congratulations."

"Thank you."

Just then the doors swung open again and everyone's eyes fell on the doorway.

"Miss Williams?" A nurse called and I saw the saddened faces of everyone else upon the mention of my name.

"That's me." I said standing up, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"Follow me please"

I swallowed hard at her stoic face, but followed nonetheless, Blaise shortly trailing behind me. We still didn't release each other's hand, and I gave hers a light squeeze whispering,

"He'll be alright."

"Thanks... I hope your right."

We were led down the number of hallways and stopped outside a room labelled '217' above the door. The nurse started talking, but I didn't pay attention to anything that was being said, the only thing I focused on was the door handle and when I could open it. When the nurse was done speaking she nodded and walked away, leaving me and Blaise stood outside the door.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Blaise said impatiently, pushing me aside.

I glared at her, but some part of me forced me to hold my tongue as she turned the handle and opened the door slowly. My heart raced in my chest and I closed my eyes, saying a silent prayer to myself that he was alright...


	3. Chapter 3

_Midpoint_

_**Hello Everyone! I've kind of gotten over my failure of a science exam I think! Tbh I just can't make myself care anymore in this heat! Although now I have a Tan, boom. ;) But I can't sleep at night... BUT, I have the weekend and then only one more week of school until the holidays! 1 Week off = Bliss. I can make it, hopefully, despite my utter DREAD about PE on Monday... :S It makes me feel ill. But, you have to do it I guess... *Sigh***_

_**Anyway, enough about my life, as I'm sure you're all not bothered in the slightest! ;D Enjoy the next chapter; it is longer like I promised! :)**_

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_**Oryt **__**– Hehehe probably not! I want them too as well! XD She did, now I actually really like her and kind of miss her involvement... :( Oh well, sure we'll see more from her soon enough! Maybe a side story? :O Ahh mayyybbeee, or is it something else? You shall have to read onward!  
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_**Mal Fallon's POV**_

I only woke up a short while ago and found myself lying in an uncomfortable hospital bed with thick bandages wrapped around my waist and side. It took a long moment for my vision to un-blur and when they did I saw a young nurse sat beside me. She smiled sweetly at me, and it seemed genuine, which confused me even more.

"Try not to move Mr Fallon; you'll be extremely weak for the rest of the day. You've lost a lot of blood and we're just focusing on getting it back inside you." She giggled. "Just try to make sure it stays that way from now on."

Despite myself I smiled at her, she seemed nice and had a sense of humour.

"Thanks, I'll do my best." I groaned as a wave of light headedness hit me and the nurse looked at me with concerned eyes.

"Mr Fallon, are you alright?"

"Yeah, and please call me, Mal."

"Okay... Mal." She smiled again and stood up, placing her hands on her hips and gazing around the room. "Do you need anything at all?"

"Um... Yes actually, could you find Natara Williams for me?"

"Of course, won't be long!"

She practically skipped out of the room and I let out a chuckle, although it came out as more of a cough, or that's what it turned in to. I tried to pull myself into a seated position, but felt the sharp pain from my wound strike me again. I winced but managed to sit up, moving my pillows behind me and reclining on them, taking a deep breath.

I looked down at my bandages and sighed, only just realizing that I was shirtless. I slowly reached up and rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand. It was incredibly hard to do, considering I felt extremely weak and every time I tried to do something it seemed like it took so much effort. Eventually I gave up and allowed my heavy arms to drop by my side. There was a quick, sharp pain in my hand and I winced before looking at the cause of it. An IV was stuck in my hand with tape to hold it in place covering it. I followed the long thin wire up to the packet, noting that my blood type was being forced into my body by a blood bag. It felt kind of weird, knowing that someone else's blood was flowing into my body, but I didn't have enough energy right now to give a damn.

I'd never felt so feeble before and I didn't like it. At all. I wasn't used to this, even as a teenager I had always been stronger than others and it was comforting. I felt a little vulnerable trapped in this hospital for a while, not able to do much due to my blood loss. But the good thing was that I'm still alive and I'll heal and pretty soon, see Natara again, hopefully smiling and happy, instead of crying and distressed like the state I left her in.

* * *

I had been resting for a while, not detecting the amount of time the young nurse had been gone for. I struggled to keep my eyes open, but was determined to wait for Natara. I sighed and allowed my eye to drift shut for a brief moment, only to be interrupted by the door flying open. My eyes shot open and I smiled, expecting to see Natara stride into the room, but instead I saw a quite rough-looking Blaise stumble inside and straighten herself up before calmly walking over to me.

"Blaise?" I mumbled.

She flicked some of her long, wavy blonde hair over her shoulder and swallowed before sitting in a chair beside me. Taking a deep breath she raised her head up to meet my eyes. My eyes widened at the close sight of her, seeing how she had puffy red eyes and seemed to be shaking slightly. It was... unusual to see this new side of her.

"Y-You..."

I saw her lip quiver slightly and she broke our eye contact and lowered her head, so her ruffled hair covered her face. I couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of guilt in my stomach, so used most of my energy to reach over to her and place my hand on top of hers.

"Hey... You alright?"

In one swift movement, she shook her head and almost jumped on top of me, wrapping her arms around my neck and burying her head in my shoulder. I flinched and gasped in pain, feeling her ease up a little so she didn't hurt my wound, but didn't let go. I was exhausted, but when I heard the slight sound of a sob coming from her lips and feeling my bare shoulder growing damp, I pushed myself to cradle her in my arms for a short while.

"I-I thought you..."

"Shhh, Blaise, it's alright... I'm fine, see?"

Blaise's sobbing soon ceased and she managed to regain her composure, pulling away from me and drying her cheeks with the sleeve of her jacket.

"I'm Sorry, Mal." She muttered and slumped back into the chair.

"Don't be, you feeling okay now?"

"Yeah," Blaise glanced around the room and a look of confusion passed across her face. "Where's Natara?"

"Natara's here?"

"Yeah, she was in the hall with me. I'll go see where she is," Blaise stood up and took one last deep breath before turning on her heels and walking towards the door, before she left though she called over her shoulder, "And Mal?"

"Yeah?"

"You're an idiot. Don't scare me like that again, or I'll actually kill you."

She flashed me a smile and walked outside again, leaving the door slightly ajar. I felt a small smile tug at my lips; knowing that I could hold this over her forever, the fact that hard-as-stone Blaise Corso cried because of me. Priceless. At least she was back to normal now though; I missed her sarcasm, not that it could _ever _match mine.

I waited for a while, sat in silence and watched the stars in the night sky slowly appear before me, before the door opened again, a little slower this time. I slowly turned my head towards the door and couldn't stop the smile that appeared on my lips.

"Nat, there you a-"

"You total jerk!" Natara yelled, causing me to jump.

"W-What? I-"

"Do you have any idea what ran through my mind when I heard that gunshot, or when I saw how much blood you lost, or when you... when y-you..."

It was then that Natara broke down, collapsing onto her knees and holding herself, her voice fading into a heartbreaking sob. It made my heart wrench, seeing her so upset, and all because of me. I wasn't quick enough and almost died because of it. It hadn't crossed my mind of how hard this must have been on her, I was just excited to see her happy face again... but that wasn't going to happen just yet.

"Nat, come here."

I reached out my arms to her, with great difficulty, but it was worth it. With little hesitation, Natara slowly pushed herself to her feet and stumbled over to me, being careful to avoid my bandages as she collapsed into my arms. I wrapped my arms around her and held her close to me, not even caring that she was slightly pressed up against my injury. I closed my eyes, thankful to have her back in my arms, safe and sound. She was still covered entirely in my dried blood and her make-up had run from where she was crying, but it didn't matter. Using my reserved energy, I gently swayed her and ran my fingers through her hair, whispering comforting things into her ear. I pulled her into a seated position on the edge on the hospital bed, so she could snuggle up a little closer and feel more comfortable than standing. Natara gently nuzzled my chest and I watched her eyes slide shut as she held me a little tighter.

"I was so scared." She admitted, looking up into my eyes.

It was a strange thing to hear come from her lips, Natara was never afraid; well unless she was stuck in a hospital or was worrying about her love life. But nonetheless, at least she felt secure with admitting that to me, it reminded me of how strong our bond truly is.

"It's okay to be scared, hell I was scared too."

Natara smiled slightly, letting out a silent laugh and sniffling.

"Mr Tough Guy was scared?"

"Yep, so was Miss Mind Reader."

She rolled her eyes playfully and snuggled closer to me, until there was no visible room between us. She was incredibly warm and I could feel my rapid heartbeat pounding against my chest. I wondered if she would possibly be able to feel it against hers, but silently hoped she couldn't. Eventually, she let out a contented sigh and reclosed her eyes. In a short while I felt her go slightly flaccid in my arms and looked down, concerned. But thankfully I had nothing to worry about, Natara had fallen asleep in my arms, her chest rising and falling steadily. Bless her; she must have been almost as exhausted as I am from all that worrying and crying I put her through.

I didn't bother waking her up, there would be no point and besides, I liked the feeling that I brought to her; comfort and protection. Instead, I reclined back into a lying position and brought her with me, making sure she lay next to me with her head resting in my neck. I let myself slowly drift off, glancing out the window up at the full moon one last time, seeing how it casted a silver lighting across the whole of San Francisco.

* * *

_**Blaise Corso's POV**_

I shortly left Mal alone to see where the princess went, cursing myself for crying in front of him. He was going to hold that against me forever, and I knew it. Eventually I found her pacing in the visiting room, like a wild tiger in a cage at the zoo. I had confronted Natara, her telling me that she couldn't bear to face him yet. I had held myself back from slapping her across the face and instead, decided to return the rare moment of friendship that we shared. I had comforted her and told her that he was fine, and wanted to see her.

After too much deliberation for my liking, Natara finally decided to go and see him, but I didn't go with her. I wanted them to have some time alone; despite finding out she was now engaged to the handsome D.A Oscar Santos. I didn't get it, at the couples retreat Mal practically confessed everything to her and yet... she still runs into Oscars arms. Mal's perfect for her, anyone can see that, so... why can't she?

* * *

I had been sat in my thoughts for roughly an hour, not realizing the amount of time that had passed by. They had been gone for a while and I wanted to head off. I got up from the chair and walked down the labyrinth of hallways until I came to Mal's room. I slowly opened the door and peeked my head inside, not being able to fight the smile that tugged at my lips. Natara was asleep next to Mal, who was also sleeping. It was incredibly cute, but more than that, it was the _perfect _opportunity to get back at him. I swiftly took out my phone and snapped a picture, smirking. It was against policy to stay the night like that, so I did the logical thing and shook Natara awake.

She groaned and swatted my hand away, but I just did it more until she opened her eyes and glared at me.

"Come on," I whispered harshly "You'll get us both in trouble."

Natara raised an eyebrow and looked around, her eyes falling on Mal. I laughed when she gasped and blushed heavily, but stifled it quickly, not wanting to wake Mal up. He was exhausted and had been through a rough day, scaring the crap out of me in the process. Natara stealthily slipped out of Mal's grip and climbed out of the bed, straightening herself out and running a hand through her tousled hair.

"Let's go."

I nodded and she started walking out, but before she left, she glanced back at him and smiled. I followed after her, getting in my car and driving us both home. After dropping Natara off, I headed home to my old apartment and went straight to bed after getting changed.

I lay there, lost in my own thoughts. I was thinking about so many different things all at once: The moment I had heard about Mal being in the hospital after losing so much blood; When I had sprinted down the road to the hospital after parking my car in the nearby car park; When I saw the amount of dried blood splattered on Natara's outfit, making me worry even more; Waiting for what seemed like an eternity before finally seeing Mal; Crying in front of him and feeling his arms hold me close; Stumbling upon Natara and Mal sleeping peacefully, but the main thing that I couldn't get out of my mind was the engagement ring resting upon Natara's left finger. After all this time, Oscar had proposed to Natara, pushing her further out of Mal's grasp.

Mal is my best friend since college and to only be able to sit back and watch as they grow more distant, it kills me. I had watched as his marriage slowly broke apart, to later find out that Sandra and he had divorced because she cheated on him; watched as he poured his heart out to Natara, but she only thought it was a ruse; Witnessed his reaction to Ken's sudden passing and deep down I knew that he wasn't over it; Seeing his response to when Amy ran away with Brimstone; hearing about his trip to Las Vegas with his Dad; and now viewing his heartbreak from finding out about Natara's engagement.

There was only one word to describe Mal's life at the moment: Unfair.

Then again, it always had been. He lost his Dad at a young age and then his Mom during his teenage years, life hadn't been very kind to him, until Natara showed up and healed him emotionally.

I wanted to help him, but didn't know how. He thought I was emotionless, because that's the way I portray myself to everyone. I guess all I can do right now is watch and wait to see what happens. I hope that Natara will see sense before it's too late though. Sure, Oscar is a really sweet guy, but... he's not Mal. And Natara needs Mal; I don't care what she says.

They were meant to be together, if only _they_ could see that.


	4. Chapter 4

_Midpoint_

_**Hey everyone, I know it's been almost a week since I last updated but I had my reasons! Mainly annoying 'friends' of mine, but anyway. Now it's that half term! Thank the Lord! :D Which means I have an entire week to write and draw and do whatever the hell I feel like! Whoop! No more drama for a while! Anyway, enjoy the next chapter and I'll try to update more frequently. **_

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_**Review Replies:  
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_**bananaballer13 - Thanks!**_

_**diamonsintheroughhh - Haha glad to hear that I made you laugh! Cant remember if that was my intention or not right now... but hey! ;) Woke everyone up? Trolol! :DD  
**_

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_**Mal Fallon's POV**_

It had been about a week since I had been shot and was making a remarkable recovery, mainly because I refused to be stubborn for once and let myself heal, determined to get out of this place. The doctor had told me that I was allowed to leave today just as long as I rested while at home and didn't go back to work for at least a couple more days or weeks. I had woken up _way_ before dawn had even broken through the horizon of San Francisco and immediately gotten up, despite the momentary sharp pain in my side. I had forgotten to take it slow, like the doctor said and accidently stood up too fast.

All the while I was packing my things and preparing to leave the hospital just as soon as I was cleared to go, the only thing I could think about was when I 'died' for a moment and went to the Midpoint. I was still questioning my sanity, wondering whether or not what I had experienced was true or not; maybe it was my subconscious guilt from their deaths and my mind was trying to heal me. I wanted to tell Natara everything, but she'd never believe me. Who would? They'd think I was crazy, but then again I thought I was too for a moment. I sat in the dim lighting for hours mulling over whether or not to tell anyone about my experience and if so, how.

While deep in my thoughts, the gentle young nurse, who's name I had discovered was Laura, entered the room silently and walked up to me.

"Mr... I mean, Mal?" she said softly.

I was surprised that I didn't jump upon hearing her voice, maybe because of the tone... Well whatever the reason I turned around to face her and stood up slowly, remembering the sharp pain that would strike if I moved too quickly. She smiled up at me and handed my some pills and water.

"For the pain" She said.

I thanked her and reluctantly took them, handing her the empty cup back.

"So... The doctor said you could leave now, he told me to tell you since he's extremely busy today."

"Oh good, I've been wanting out of this place for ages!"

Laura giggled and covered her mouth with her hand. Her light blonde hair fell in front of her face and obscured my vision of her fair toned skin. When she regained her composure, she lifted her head and cleared her throat.

"Yeah, it can be a pain stuck in here, sometimes I wonder why I like working in a place like this, but then again I get to meet people like you..."

Her voice trailed off near the end of her sentence and I noticed a light blush appearing on her pale cheeks.

"Anyway, it was nice meeting you Mal, um... I'd like to say that I'd hope to see you soon but-"

"That would mean I'd be injured?" I finished her sentence for her and she laughed.

"Exactly. Try to stay out of trouble in the future, okay?"

Laura smiled at me one last time and turned on her heels, lightly bouncing out the door. I laughed lightly as I watched her leave, shaking my head. She was adorable to say the least. Snapping myself out of my thoughts, I quickly picked up my phone and dialled an all too familiar number. After a couple rings they answered and a tired voice greeted me on the other side of the line; and yet, I couldn't help but smile upon hearing it.

"Hello?"

"Morning, Nat."

"Oh, good morning Mal. What's up?"

"Just thought I would let you know that you don't have to visit me today."

"Mal, we talked about this I want to-"

"I mean that if you come I won't be there, Doc cleared me and I'm all set to leave!"

"Oh! That's great! Do you want me to pick you up on the way to work or?"

"Yeah, that would be great, thanks Nat."

"No problem, see you soon."

"Bye."

I hung up and took the elevator downstairs. Walking outside I met Natara in the parking lot and slipped into the passenger side of her car. She flashed me her gorgeous smile that shown her perfectly aligned white teeth and started the engine, heading in the direction of my apartment.

"So what did the doctor say exactly?" Natara asked after a brief moment of silence.

"Just that I have to rest and I'm not allowed back at work for a couple more days until the pain leaves."

"Well then, I hope for your sake you'll be able to stick to that."

She smirked and I rolled my eyes playfully.

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

"Good!"

For the rest of the brief car journey we talked about how things had been at work since I was away. Natara said that they were let off for the shooting of our newest killer, thankfully, and that she was just running around with Blaise doing whatever the hell Lt. Anders wanted her to. I could tell she was annoyed by this, but without a new serial killer for her to pursue, she had to play nice. I had debated talking about this since she had told me about it, crushing me, but knew I had to ask; just to get it off my chest.

"So... How's Oscar?"

"Oh... He's fine."

Natara didn't make eye contact and chewed on her bottom lip slightly. I knew she wouldn't want to bring this up again, considering we had argued a little when she told me, but if we didn't discuss this I could lose her forever.

"Nat, you know what I mean."

"Um... Well... Oh! Were here."

Natara pulled up outside my apartment complex and took her hands off the wheel, placing them neatly in her lap. I didn't move an inch, seeing her shift uncomfortably under my gaze. Natara glanced up at me and sighed, leaning back and resting her head on the back of her seat.

"It's fine Mal." Was all she said and looked away out the window. "I'll see you soon."

I sighed heavily and opened the door, slipping out. Closing the door, I leaned in the window and looked at Natara, who still avoided my gaze.

"Nat?"

"Yes Mal?"

"Would you come over after work? You know, if you're not busy of course, I mean with Os-"

I stopped mid sentence when I saw Natara glaring at me. I gulped and backed off from the car slightly.

"Of course I will Mal, see you in a little while."

"Okay, thanks."

Natara nodded and drove off. I waited until the car faded into the distance before turning around and making my way up the ungodly amount of stairs leading to my apartment. I threw open the door and strolled inside, throwing my night bag near the door and stretching carefully.

'_It's good to be home.' _I thought and smiled.

Aimlessly wandering around my apartment, searching for something to do, I got lost in my own thoughts again.

_Why won't Natara just talk to me about Oscar and this damn engagement? Sure I was a little mad at first, but I respect her decision... not that I like it at all. She deserves so much better than him. Someone who'd look after and protect her no matter what, tell her she's beautiful every single day. Someone who appreciates her fully, knowing her amazing intellect and how easily it comes to her. She's just too perfect and Oscar... just isn't right for her. I may not be, but at least I'd try so much harder than he ever would. Natara... why can't you see it?_

I sighed and sat down of the sofa, turning on the TV and started watching the news. It was the same boring thing: murderer on the loose; mugging on the road near mine; war in a nearby country, you name it, it was on there. I grew bored quickly and realized how tired I actually was. Knowing that I could risk another argument with Natara if I was cranky, I decided to go to bed for a couple more hours.

I got changed and slipped into my bed, feeling the soft fabric against my skin. My back was thankful for the sudden comfort and I sighed with contentment. It felt great to be home and in my own bed. I had never realized how comfortable it actually was until I spent ages in that damn hospital. I fell asleep incredibly quickly and had a number of short, meaningless dreams that I couldn't even remember when my alarm went off later that day.

* * *

I'll admit, I was feeling a little better now that I had actually had a decent rest. I got up after lying in my bed for countless minutes and dragged myself over to the kitchen where I made myself some coffee to wake me up. The hot beverage was refreshing after the horrid crap they gave me in the hospital. It seemed that everything was one hundred times better now that I was out of there, and I loved it.

I walked into my bedroom and slipped on a black tank top and joggers before returning to my living room, sitting on the sofa and turning the football game on. I was expecting Natara to turn up soon, since she should have been leaving work around now, unless of course she got caught up in a mountain of paperwork.

As if on cue, there was a light knocking on my apartment door and a small smile tugged at my lips. I knew Natara so well that I could even tell if it was her by the way she knocked on my door. It was always the same light rhythm. I jumped up, feeling the consequence of the sharp pain in my side, and practically limped towards the door. _Damn wound. _I opened the door and leaned against the frame, smiling at the panting Natara that stood before me.

"Okay, seriously? You need to get a room closer to the ground!"

"Heh, nice to see you too."

I stepped aside so that she could enter my apartment and closed the door after her. She strolled up to the sofa and slumped down into it, letting her bag fall off her shoulder to the ground. I grabbed two bears from the kitchen and handed one to Natara, which she took gladly.

"Thanks."

"No problem, rough day?"

"You have no idea. I swear to God if that Anders orders me about _once _more about some crap I'm gonna kick his ass."

I laughed and sat opposite from her, taking a swig from my bottle. Natara imitated my actions and placed hers on the coffee table before us. She sighed deeply and leaned back, visibly relaxing. I smiled and placed my drink down before reaching across the table and placing my hand atop hers. She looked down and I noticed a small smile tug at her lips, before she flipped her hand over and curled her fingers around my palm.

"Natara there was a couple things I'd actually like to talk to you about, but they kind of make me sound... insane."

Natara flashed me a puzzled look and leaned forward slightly, picking up her drink and taking a quaff before clearing her throat.

"Yeah... there's actually something I wanted to talk to you about too Mal. But you go first, I'm sure whatever it is, you won't sound insane."

I laughed nervously and cleared my throat.

"Alright... um..." I thought for a short moment about how to word it, but after much debate, I thought just coming straight out with it would be the best approach. "Nat, when I kind of 'died' I guess, I woke up somewhere. And then I saw people... who I know for a fact are dead."

Before I had even finished explaining I could see Natara's look of disbelief.

"See, told you it sounds crazy."

"Mal... maybe you didn't 'die' per se, but just thought you did and then your mind made up this place and happened to bring the people you care about back to you so-"

"Natara. I know what I saw, and yes it sounds totally wacky, but you know for a fact that I died for at least a minute. I'm telling you, it was them; I couldn't make stuff like that up. My mom, Ken and even Tasha was there. They called it 'the midpoint' and said it's the place most people go to when they die before moving up, or in some cases down. They asked me to do things for them, and I plan on doing them."

When I finished I took a long breath, finally happy to get it off my chest. Natara looked at the ground for a long, silent moment and I wondered what she was going to say. Doubt filled my mind and I knew she must think I was crazy. I almost blurted out an apology but Natara looked up and started talking gently before I could.

"I'm not saying that I don't believe you Mal, it's just... _How_? How do you even know this was real? How is it possible to even go to this 'midpoint'?"

"How do I know? Um..." I couldn't say it, what if she was right and it was just a thing my mind created. Screw it, I can't back down now. "Ken told me something... about you."

"Me? Like what?"

"That you... talk to yourself sometimes, at night."

Natara looked taken aback for a second, clear shock apparent on her beautiful features. She slid our hands apart and stood up, pacing around the room until she came to the window that overlooked the city. She stared out at it for a long moment, resting her palms on the windowsill.

"Did he say anything else?" She whispered timorously.

"Yeah, he told me what you talk about."

"You can't possibly know-"

"You talk about how you're confused and that you have no idea what you're doing anymore or about how you feel. You worry about marrying Oscar and only said yes because... you want to be loved."

I heard Natara gasp and take a long shaky breath.

"That's impossible." I heard her mumble to herself. "You... you're wrong."

"No I'm not, you know I'm not."

I stood up and walked over to her, gazing out the window behind her as I let this entire thing sink in.

"Natara, talk to me."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. You know I'm always here for you."

Natara sighed and slowly turned to face me, tears starting to well up in her eyes. I smiled reassuringly at her and gently took her by the hand, curling my fingers around her delicate palm. I comfortingly stroked her palm with my thumb and waited for a response. Natara closed her eyes for a long moment before gulping and shaking her head in disbelief.

"This is utterly impossible. I can't... I just..."

"I know, it's wacky. But I know it happened. I had a choice you know."

"What?"

"A choice, whether or not to come back. I almost didn't, but then I thought about you and Amy and knew I had to. I wanted to."

Natara was completely shocked and numbly walked over to the sofa, sitting down slowly and formally, placing her hands in her lap and sitting up straight. She looked towards the floor in the distance and I shortly followed her, sitting beside her and clearing my throat awkwardly.

"Natara, you asked me a short while ago for advice on this whole marriage thing and I wasn't exactly generous with help. So I want to make it up to you."

Natara nodded and met my gaze, blinking away the tears.

"When Sandra and I agreed to be married, I already knew, or thought, that she was the one for me. But in reality things didn't work out. You have to plan ahead and sure it's scary, but you have to be one hundred percent sure that this is everything you want in life."

"How would I know?"

"You feel it," I reached over and took her hand placing it lightly against her chest just over her heart. "In here."

I didn't care how incredibly cheesy that sounded, it seemed to make a positive impact on Natara and she actually smiled a little.

"Also," I continued "Can you picture yourself with Oscar in ten years time? Honestly?"

"I... No. No I can't." She sighed in utter defeat and rested her head against my shoulder. "What do I do Mal?"

Natara looked up into my eyes and she absentmindedly pouted a little. I smiled and wrapped my arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer.

"You have to tell him."

"I ca-"

"Yes Natara, you can and will. I'll help you if I have to."

"No, I have to do this myself... somehow."

I chuckled and held her closer, feeling her warm body pressed lightly against mine. She nuzzled my chest and moaned slightly.

"This is going to be hard isn't it?"

"I'm not gonna lie to you Nat, it probably is going to be, but know that I'm gonna be right here for you. Always."

"Thanks Mal. You always know exactly what to say."

I held her close to me for a long time, the only sound coming from the wall clock making light ticking noises and the classic sounds from the streets of San Francisco. It was starting to get dark when we pulled away and I smirked slightly.

"Although, you could marry him and take half of his stuff in the process if you wanted to? That is the one good thing about divorces."

Natara laughed for the first time in ages and pulled some hair behind her ear. She rolled her eyes playfully and nudged my arm.

"No way mister, I don't roll that way."

"Oh! Ask for the car!"

"Mal!"

I threw my hands up defensively and laughed. "Kidding, kidding... sort of."

"You are impossible."

"Hey, I'm charming, not impossible."

"Keep telling yourself that Malachi and maybe one day it will come true!"

We both laughed and finished off our beers. I offered her another one, to which she gladly accepted. Returning with the beverages, I sat next to Natara and started talking about anything else that had been bothering her or me. We listened to each other and gave advice before swapping more stories about our past. We hadn't realized that we had talked late into the night and only when morning broke through did we realize how long we'd been speaking. Natara gasped and quickly gathered up her things. She thanked me and hugged me for a long moment before leaving, saying she would see me soon. I waved as the door closed before sighing contently and flopping back onto the sofa, looking up to the sky.

'_I did it Ken. I helped her; now to just take care of Amy... if I can find her.'_

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_**Review? :) Oh and there will be more Maltara including in the next chapter or so, QOMF cannot deny her people fluff now can she! ;D **  
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	5. Chapter 5

_Midpoint_

_**News update: I have recently discovered how you are able to view how many hits your story has gotten since you published it (Thank You Oryt!) And I was utterly shocked to see how many times my stories had been read and which was most successful etc. Guess what I found out – Capital Holiday has ... 5,133 hits :O I know, I almost cried with happiness! If anyone is interested in finding out how to view your hits then ask either me or Oryt. :) I still can't believe it! This story has had 608 hits so far! :DDD I would tell you more about them but I'm sure you're not interested in the slightest! Imagine how many silent readers there are out there! :') **_

_**Oh and has anyone seen the new Image Manager? You can add a picture as front covers for your stories! :D How cool is that! **_

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_**Mal Fallon's POV**_

I hadn't realized that I had fallen asleep on my sofa until the next morning, when the sunlight penetrated the window and shot rays into my eyes. Sometimes I seriously couldn't stand sunlight. Despite my attempts at blocking it out I found that my attempts were futile. Sighing, I decided to get up and prepare for a day of doing absolutely nothing while my wound was still in the process of healing. Oh the joys of my life. I carefully pulled myself up and looked around the room whilst rubbing my sore, tired eyes with the back of my hand. Nothing seemed out of place since Natara had come over last night, not that I expected it to. Seeing that there was no point in sitting around much longer, I stood up and dragged myself over to the coffee machine to make myself a fresh brew. While waiting for it to finish I jogged into my bedroom and got changed into something comfortable, yet casual, and rid myself of the taste in my mouth by brushing me teeth.

Preparation completed, I poured a mug of coffee and took a long sip. The hot liquid was refreshing as it travelled down my throat and I realized that I had downed it in one. Silently chuckling to myself, I returned to the living room and looked around sighing.

'_Well, what do I do now?' _I thought to myself.

I stood thinking for a brief moment when a thought hit me like a bullet. I needed to find Amy. But without any equipment from the SFPD and any idea of where to start looking for Amy and since she's surrounded by hackers that block our signals... I doubt that this is going to be the simplest task so gladly bestowed upon me by Kenneth. Thanks for that buddy. Could have at least given me _some _idea of where to start. I sighed again and yawned before picking up my phone and glancing at the clock to make sure it wasn't _too _early to be calling. I dialled Blaise's number and prayed she wouldn't bite my head off for this. After a couple of rings the phone picked up.

"What."

Blaise sounded grumpy as hell when she picked up the phone, so I decided to try and chose my words carefully. She always was a slightly aggressive person, maybe that's why we got along so well in college.

"Morning Blaise, I kind of need your help..."

"Oh no. No, no and NO."

"Aww come on, please?"

I heard a heavy sigh from the other side of the line and couldn't stop the smirk that found its way onto my lips; I always knew how to get around her even without trying.

"Maybe. It depends on what you want, after Las Vegas I swear-"

"I know, I know. Look I need to find Amy and well, being stuck at home that's kind of impossible."

"Oh... how come you need to find her?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Right..."

She sounded unsure and there was a long moment of silence before she broke it again.

"Alright, but this is the last time I'm helping you this month, understood?"

"Understood."

"Good, so what do I have to do Fallon?"

"Well..."

* * *

After an extremely long phone conversation with Blaise, because she had to ask how I was now that I was out of hospital, I hung up and got to work. Grabbing some more coffee I prepared myself for the worst and called Kai, cursing myself every time I pressed the number. He picked up almost instantly and his irritating voice penetrated my ears.

"Maligator! Wassup my peep!"

"Cut the crap Kai, I need you to do something for me which could benefit _both _of us."

"Wow... what shall I do chief?"

"Go on the databases and see if you can get any information on the possible whereabouts of Amy, I need to find her."

"Amy? Um... alright, but may I ask why?"

"No."

"Okey Dokey then! Give us a short while and I'll call you back!"

"Fine by me, cya."

"Goooddd-"

I hung up before he could finish that sentence and sighed. I hated talking to him at the best of times, never mind in the mood I'm in now. I guess all I could do now was wait and hope that they came through for me. Almost instantly when I had nothing else left to think about did my mind drift to the one person I hadn't checked up on today. _Natara Williams_.

I remembered the conversation we had last night and knew she was going to have a hard time today, that is if she chose to tell Oscar tonight. I think it was a good thing to discuss with her and I managed to convince her that I saw Ken again and he told me to help her, so that's a bonus.

Not too long passed until I started picturing Natara's face and body and everything else about her, as if she was stood right in front of me. She was undeniably beautiful. Not just in appearance, but in the little things she always did and her overall personality. I couldn't imagine what I had done to ever deserve someone as wonderful and Natara to walk into my life and actually stay. Even if she saw me as her partner and best friend, I was strangely okay with that. The only thing that mattered to me was that she was happy with her life and decisions. Natara's my world now and it's never been better. My mind seems to always be drifting to her when she isn't around. She came into my life when I needed her the most and has healed me emotionally. I owe her everything. If it wasn't for Natara in all honesty I probably wouldn't be here right now. I'd either be stuck in jail or dead, she saved my life a number of times and I have her. She's one of the few people that actually care enough to get to know me and break down the barriers that I put up to keep everyone out. She just gets me – knows how to get into my head with her creepy mind reader skills. That's another thing that Oscar could never give Natara that I could: Understanding. I understand her better than anyone else, even her own family. I'd be anything for her and spend every single day trying to make her half as happy as she has made me over our brief time together. If only I could...

My phone rang, breaking my endless train of thoughts about Natara; I quickly checked the caller ID and answered.

"Fallon."

"I got it, Mal. You want me to bring them over now or...?"

"Yeah, now would be great, thanks Blaise, I owe you one."

"Yeah yeah, if I lose my badge for this I swear to God-"

"I'll take full blame, but you won't so don't worry about it."

"Fine, be over shortly."

"Okay, bye"

I hung up and waited patiently for Blaise to arrive. It was excruciating. When I heard the light ratting noise on my door I shot up, feeling the pain from my wound, and unlocked the door, throwing it open. Blaise strutted inside and shoved a file into my chest.

"There, happy now?"

I looked down at the file and smiled.

"Very, thanks Blaise."

"Yeah whatever. Now, you gonna tell me what this is about or not."

"Nope."

"Aww come on!"

I chuckled at Blaise's frustrated expression and skimmed through the file. It was Amy's. Everything about her was in this file and may give me some insight to her whereabouts. I was just awaiting Kai's call and then-

"Um... Mal?"

"Huh?"

"You alright? You've been staring blankly at that piece of paper for quite a while now..."

"Oh, sorry. I'm fine; you can go back to work now if you want."

"Oh... sure. Cya, Mal."

"Cya, and thanks again Blaise."

She nodded to me and left without another word. The door made a light clicking sound as she left and I was alone again. I sat down at my desk and started going through Amy's file in detail, praying that something would come up that could help me.

* * *

After around two hours of solid work I had come up with nothing and was beginning to lose hope. This file contained everything about Amy, some things I didn't even know, but nothing that could help me find her.

'_Come on Ken, help me out here.'_

Just as soon as this thought crossed my mind, the phone rang. I thought it was really creepy, but shrugged it off. Purely coincidental. I answered and held the phone to my ear.

"Maligat-"

"What did you get Kai?"

"Oh... I got something, whether or not it's gonna be of use to you or not that's the thing."

"Anything you have is fine."

"Well I found out that Amy recently booked a flight to New York along with her pals from Brimstone. They stayed for around a week before flying back over here. Apart from that I can't find much, all I know is she's somewhere in San Francisco. Unfortunately Brimstone bases are almost impossible to find."

"But we found them before, cant we just-"

"Afraid not, last time we had help. This time we got nothing."

"Oh... well thanks anyway Kai."

"No problemo!"

I was about to hang up when I heard Kai's voice change tone quite dramatically and it slightly worried me.

"Um... Mal?"

"Yes Kai."

"Have you spoken to Agent Boom Bottie today?"

"Um... no I haven't, and she's Natara, Kai."

"Right, doesn't matter then."

"No, wait, go on."

"It's just... she came down to the crime lab earlier and seemed really upset about something. I noticed her mascara had been running and unless it was raining I kind of doubt-"

"She's been crying? Thanks Kai but I gotta go."

"Oh okay but-"

I hung up and threw on my jacket. I didn't care what the doctor had said right now. Natara had been crying and that means whatever happened between Oscar and her didn't go down well. She'd done it much quicker than I had anticipated and before I knew it, I was outside jumping in the driver's seat and heading towards the precinct. I had Amy's file in my hand which I would have to sneakily return to its rightful place without being detected, but that was a task for later. Natara was my number one priority at the minute and the closer I got, the more I worried.

* * *

I pulled into the parking lot and jogged towards the precinct doors, ignoring the searing pain in my side. Throwing the doors open I strolled inside, gaining a bunch of confused glances from my co-workers. I scanned the bullpen for any signs of Natara. Luckily I caught glimpse of a tall, coffee coloured haired woman walking into my office. The way she carried herself suggested she was saddened about something. I didn't hesitate to push my way over to her. I peeked my head inside my office, seeing her sat at her desk working on a report. Natara was completely oblivious to my presence, but I could see exactly what Kai meant. They were faint, but I could still see the black lines down her cheeks from where her mascara had ran. I frowned slightly and silently slinked into the room, closing the door. The movement caused Natara's head to shoot up and a look of confusion passed across her face.

"M-Mal?"

"Natara, I'm sorry."

"What are you talking about? Sorry for what?"

I walked over to her and crouched beside her chair, looking up into her soft hazel eyes. She was about to talk again but I cut her off before she was able to.

"Nat, what happened?"

"Nothing." She answered quickly and broke our eye contact.

"Well, I received a call saying otherwise."

"From who? Don't tell me it was Ken."

I chuckled and shook my head.

"Of course not, it was from Kai. Good attempt at trying to dodge the question though."

She sighed and leant back in her chair, staring down at her hands placed in her lap. Natara twiddled her thumbs and bit her bottom lip; something she always did when she was nervous. I reached over and placed my hand on top of hers softly.

"Tell me."

"I-I don't know what you're going on about Mal."

"Yes you do, you've been crying. My guess: Oscar. What happened? Did he hurt you; I swear if he did I'll-"

"Dear Lord no! He didn't even touch me. We just argued okay? It's no big deal, now go home."

"Nat..."

"I mean it Mal; I need to get this report done."

Natara pushed my hand off hers and resumed her work, avoiding my gaze. She sniffled slightly and still chewed on the flesh of her bottom lip. I sighed and stood up, grabbing the handles of her chair and turning her to face me. She scowled at me but I smiled. She looked so adorable when she was angry.

"Mal!"

"Natara, listen to me. I will sit here all day if I have to, until you tell me what's going on and believe me, you're not going to get anything done while I'm doing that."

"Mal..."

"Please Natara, I care about you. I hate seeing you upset, you know that. Too much has happened over the past couple of weeks that have made you distressed and it's not okay. Talk to me, you know you can."

"I-I know." Natara took a deep breath and I could sense she was fighting oncoming tears. "Well, I talked to him this morning. I said that I wasn't ready and that maybe one day I would marry him, but..."

Her voice trailed off and she hung her head, frowning. I stepped closer and knelt before her again, taking her hands in mine and gently rubbing her hand with my thumb.

"But, he flipped. He just said that I never put him first and he hated always coming second to everything. My job, my family and..."

"And?"

"... You."

I was slightly taken aback when she said me, but it was understandable. I came with her job and spent most of my time with her.

"Oh. What happened?"

"He... H-He..."

She broke down into tears and covered her face with her hands, sobbing. I swiftly wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to me, gently swaying her.

"Shhh... it's alright. There there."

I looked down at her ring finger to see it bear; she didn't have to explain to me what had happened. Oscar must have broken everything off with her permanently. He had broken her heart again and it took all my willpower not to march over to his fancy office and punch him in his perfect jaw line. I couldn't, it would only make matters worse for Natara and I didn't want her hurting anymore than she already was.

"Natara, listen, he's not worth the tears okay? He's a stuck-up son of a bitch and I swear I'll kill him if you want me to."

Natara shook her head against my chest as a reply. I nodded and continued to whisper comforting things to her until the sobbing ceased and she pulled back, taking a deep breath and wiping her cheeks with the sleeve of her jacket.

"Sorry... I don't know what the matter with me is."

"Nothing, you've been hurt. It's only natural."

"But I'm stronger than this. And yet I just keep breaking down."

"Because Natara, no matter what you think, you're human, with emotions and feelings that can be hurt."

"Well duh, I'm not an alien."

I noticed the sarcasm in her hoarse voice and miniscule smile tug at the edge of her lips. I made me smile; all she needed was someone's shoulder to cry on.

"Really? Well with your creepy mind reader skills I doubt that."

"Mal, I'm not a mind reader!"

"Nah, you're right, you're just psychic."

"Mal!"

"Kidding!"

I held my hands up defensively and she laughed, her voice filling the room and brightening it. I loved seeing her happy and making her laugh. I tried my hardest to make her laugh just so I could see that beautiful smile of hers.

"There she is."

Natara's laughter ceased and she looked at me puzzled.

"What?"

"I haven't seen you like this for a while, I missed you."

"Oh... sorry."

Natara blushed slightly, but covered her face with her hair. I cupped my finger under her chin and lifted her head up so she met my gaze. She smiled at me and I returned one, pulling her closer and resting my forehead against hers. Her eyes slid shut and her smiled grew slightly.

"You alright now?" I whispered.

Natara nodded slightly and re-opened her eyes. I stayed like that for as long as she would allow before standing up and glancing around the room.

"Well, Special Agent. I should probably be going, before the captain finds out I came into work and she tears me limb from limb."

She giggled and stood up as well, placing her hands on her hips. I turned around and started walking away when I heard Natara call after me.

"Mal," I turned to face her again. "Um... Kai told me you rang up to look for Amy."

"He did? That little-"

"No, Mal it's alright. I want to help any way I can."

"Oh, good. Okay then, how about if I need any information finding I give you a call?"

"Sure, now go home and rest mister!"

"Yes ma'am!"

I saluted to her and strolled out of the office, heading down to the crime lab, making sure not to be detected by anyone. Kai was hunched over a piece of equipment, examining a piece of evidence for an unrelated case.

"Hey weirdo."

Kai jumped and almost dropped the evidence. Luckily he caught it before it was too late and glared at me.

"Mal that could have been a disaster!"

"Yeah, yeah. Found anything else for me?"

"Afraid not, what are you doing here anyway?"

"Checking in on Natara."

"Oh, how is she?"

"Alright now, I'll speak more to her later. Anyway, I've had no luck finding Amy, you think you can help?"

"I could try."

"Good. So what do we do?"

'_I needed to find Amy, and hopefully with Kai's help I could do that. Only time would tell.'_

* * *

_**Not the best chapter, but it's a filler to Amy's moment and I had to explain the whole, searching for Amy and Natara's break up thing. Thanks for reading! **  
_


	6. Chapter 6

_Midpoint_

_**Thanks to everyone who either read, reviewed or favourited. It means the world :) But I won't go on, enjoy. Sorry for not updating, but I've been surprisingly busy this half term (which I didn't expect!) And sorry, got a last min review and had to edit that in, so if you got double emails for this story, that's why! :) **_

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_**Review Replies:**_

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* * *

_**Mal Fallon's POV**_

It had been almost an hour and a half before Kai and I even began to track down Amy and get a general gist of where she may be hiding in San Francisco amongst Brimstone. Every minute that I was stood in the crime lab next to Kai, I wanted to punch him or was on edge that someone might walk in. Or more specifically, that Captain Yeong might come in. Sometimes she could be super scary and ever since Lt. Anders shown up, well that's just made things ten times worse. I can see the pressure and stress building up and taking its toll on her. I hadn't seen her this stressed out since I was a teenager and she continuously arrested me for various things. Mainly partying on the beach or at my old house, some drunken fighting, or...

"Mal?"

Kai pulled me out of my thoughts with his irksome tone, it seemed he was calling me for quite some time as he looked at me with an irritated look on his face, which quickly disappeared when I responded.

"Hmm?"

"I think... I think I've found her!"

Kai fist pounded the air a number of times while I sighed with relief. I stood over him and stared at the computer screen.

"There," he pointed to a small red, blinking dot on the map. "I've managed to hack her phone to its most recent location when she arrived in San Francisco again, you know, before Brimstone blocked us off again."

"So that's our best shot in finding Amy... Thanks Kai, I owe you one."

"No problem Maligator! I'll hold you to that... in fact; I have a question for you. Would you rather-"

"No Kai!"

I turned on my heels and stormed out of the crime lab. That was the worst hour of my life so far with the constant 'Would you rather' questions from Kai, mainly involving Natara or Blaise. I sighed and shook my head as I crept out of the precinct, narrowly avoiding Captain Yeong as she yelled at Officer Willis and Bartaugh. I didn't stick around to find out what about, but before I left I passed by my office and waved to Natara, who seemed in better spirits. She smiled at me and waved back, before tucking some hair behind her ear and continuing with her report. I stood there waiting for her to click on, which she did shortly. A look of confusion passed across her face and she looked back up to me. I glanced around one last time and slinked into my office, shutting the door for some privacy.

"What are you still doing here, I told you to-"

"Go home, I know! I am, right now... well, sort of."

"_Mal_." Natara said sternly.

"Trust me Nat, I've found Amy, well I think I have. It's my best shot at finding her."

Natara's stunning hazel eyes lit up and she closed her report. She stood up quickly and grabbed her bag.

"You did? Well then, I'm coming with."

"Whoa, no way Natara. This could get dangerous and besides, don't you have to work right now."

Natara shrugged.

"I'm taking my break. Please Mal, I've missed Amy so much... I didn't even get to say Goodbye last time. She just... ran off."

Natara looked at me pleadingly, slightly pouting which made her look so adorable. She made a prayer gesture with her hands and let the hair she tucked behind her ear fall back into position. I mulled it over for a short while before smiling.

"Alright fine, but you have to behave!"

Natara rolled her eyes and smiled, while I grabbed her jacket and held it up for her. She thanked me and slid into it before slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Whatever, now come on! We have a Data Analyst to find!"

I chuckled and we both made our way to my car. Natara rode shotgun while I drove, although she had asked me if my wound was alright to drive, to which I had replied that I was fine. She still seemed concerned but didn't protest further. I typed in the address that Kai gave me into the GPS and we were on our way. Natara bounced lightly in her seat, clearly excited to see Amy again, I knew that they were close but never thought they were _that _close. I smiled at her excitement and she caught my gaze. I noticed a faint blush flow onto her beautifully structured cheeks and she turned to look out the window, trying to hide it. I swear that the little things she did melted my heart. I stopped my thoughts right there, not allowing myself to go any further, I am not going soft. _Nothing _melts my heart, I'm not a girl! Ah who am I kidding, she does melt my heart, not that I'd ever admit it to _anyone_.

Natara bit her lower lip and glimpsed back at me, but I was focused on the road so only caught a quick glance out of the corner of my eye. It still put a cheesy grin on my face though. There was a slightly awkward silence that hung over the car until Natara reached over and turned on the radio. I was silently thankful that she did and when our favourite song came on, well that just lifted the awkwardness and replaced it with a brilliantly cheery atmosphere. Before we knew it, we were singing along and had rolled the windows down, the cooling breeze whipping at our hair and making it dance around, along with the music.

* * *

Just as the song finished, I pulled up outside our destination. I looked over to Natara, whose cheeks were slightly flushed and her hair a little ruffled, and smiled. She looked so beautiful. Natara caught my gaze and smiled, before reaching over and running her hand through my fringe, which I hadn't realized had fallen in front of my face. I chuckled and imitated her actions, tucking some of Natara's loose strands of hair behind her ear. She giggled and ran her hand through her hair nervously, trying to sort it out.

"Hey, it's fine."

"No, Mal, it's not."

I chuckled and shook my head.

"Whatever, you still look beautiful."

I exited the car without another word, smirking to myself. Natara's face was priceless: her eyes went wide; she blushed heavily; and sat frozen from shock. I waited for a brief moment until Natara followed me, straightening out her uniform and regaining her composure. She walked along side me as we approached an old rundown building, probably abandoned, and stood outside the front door. It was in a secluded part of town, and with a quick scan of the area I could tell that not many people came around here, and almost certainly with good reason. I began to feel a little on edge, and the lingering silence didn't help. Amy couldn't certainly be _here _right? Surely she and her Brimstone buddies would have a little more sense. This place looked like it could collapse at any moment if the wind changed. I took a deep breath and walked around to a dusty window on the first floor. Natara followed behind me, trying to keep up, and cupped her hands on it, peering inside.

"See anything?" I whispered.

"Nope, just an empty room," Natara pulled back. "Are you sure this is the place?"

"That's what the weirdo said."

Natara nodded slowly and placed her finger across her lips, deep in thought. I took this moment to check the area, hoping to notice something that could help us sneak inside. After all, we couldn't exactly go barging in and exclaim that I needed to speak with Amy about something Ken said, I'd look insane! Not to mention the way it ended last time, and I couldn't afford to lose track of her again. I made Ken a promise and I was going to keep it, no matter how long it took. Natara was brought out of her thoughts and turned back to me.

"Come on, we need to find a way in." She said quickly and looked around the building for a way in.

I walked along side her and without realizing, I felt our hands brush. I gulped and didn't make eye contact with Natara as she jumped slightly and glanced down at it. She giggled at my reaction and continued walking. I sighed with relief and followed behind her, slowly catching up to her speed.

Natara suddenly stopped walking and looked up, her eyes widening slightly. I knew that look. I wordlessly cupped my hands in front of the wall and jerked my head upward. Natara knew what I meant and smiled, placing her foot in my hands as I gave her a boost. She was remarkably light, which always helped me out. Natara reached up and grabbed the window ledge, pulling herself up and skilfully unlocking the hatch. She silently slid open the window and heaved herself inside. I swear, she was like some kind of wonderful, exotic ninja. I chuckled to myself and waited outside and old door. I heard it faintly click and Natara eased it open carefully, trying to make as little noise as possible. I smirked at her, gaining one in return.

"Nice on, my little ninja."

Natara laughed at my comment, clamping her hand over her mouth to try and stifle the noise. I gently pushed past her and made my way into the building, walking down the dark, rotting labyrinth of corridors; my shoes making the faintest tapping sound as they made contact with the hard floor.

"Damn, this place has gone to hell." I mumbled, feeling Natara's presence behind me.

There was a loud creak from somewhere down the hall and I felt Natara grip my wrist, before quickly sliding her hand into mine. I couldn't help but grin at her reaction and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. She considered pulling back, but I kept hold, entwining our fingers together. I looked behind me to see Natara's face, slightly shadowed by the darkness. Unfortunately I couldn't make out if she was blushing or not, but my guess was yes: she had her head hung low and her hair falling in front of her face like she was trying to hide something. We continued down the hall until we reached an opening to a large room, it seemed mostly empty and there was no trace of movement of any life at all. Just to be sure though, I pulled back into the shadows, taking Natara with me.

"Nat, pass me your mirror." I whispered.

"Mal... what on earth makes you think I carry around a pocket mirror?" Natara asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I dunno you're a lady. Ladies carry mirrors, right?"

"Well..."

"Look, do you have one or not?"

"... Fine," Natara mumbled after a long moment and reached into her jacket pocket, bringing out a small pocket mirror. I smirked at her and she rolled her eyes, shoving it in my chest. "This doesn't change anything Fallon."

"Indeed M'lady." I said sarcastically and flipped it open.

I used it to peer around the corner for any signs of people. Nothing in the far North, nothing in the Far East, or South... but wait, right there in the little area of the west wing, was a silhouette of a small, petite feminine figure hung over a large computer. She had short, pixie-like hair and was talking to a young male, with glasses. Amy. I'd found her. I couldn't help but smile to myself as I gestured to Natara to take a look. Natara leaned in closer to me and peered over my shoulder at the scene. I saw a distinct smile cross her lips and she shook her head in disbelief.

"We've found her." She whispered and I nodded.

"Yep, now we've just got to find a way to get her over here..."

"On it."

Without another word, Natara slipped her hand out of mine and headed back down the hall. I watched with new found interest at what she was doing and tried to figure it out. At the end of the hall, Natara took a deep breath and started running. I went wide-eyed and gestured for her to stop. She didn't listen so I tried to grab her as she ran past, but she swiftly escaped my grip and kept on running. That was it, Natara Williams had officially lost her mind.

I was about to chase after her, but when I saw the other three members of Brimstone pursuing her down the opposite hall, leaving Amy alone, I understood. Natara, you are too brainy. I smiled and cautiously made my way into the hall, not minding that I made noise. Amy stood with a puzzled look on her face, staring in the direction of where Natara had run off to. I leaned against the wall and cleared my throat, causing Amy to jump out of her skin. She gasped and had to steady herself on the desk when her eyes fell on me. Her eyes went wide and she looked at me in disbelief. I flashed her one of my signature, charming grins and walked up to her.

"Hey, Amy, miss me?" I said, smirking.

Amy was speechless and could just nod her head frantically. I laughed lightly at her reaction, but it was cut short when I felt two tiny arms wrap around my waist and pull me close. Amy buried her head into my chest and squeezed me. I struggled a little for breath, but nonetheless, hugged her back and smiled at the embrace.

"I have, Mal. I've missed you all so much..." she said, her voice muffled by the fabric of my shirt. "... Just one question though."

Amy pulled back slightly, so she could look me in the eye. She was no bigger than Denni, my niece, and sort of acted like her at times to.

"Shoot."

"Was that... _Natara_?"

I chuckled and nodded my head, pulling away from the hug and placing my hands on Amy's shoulders, changing my tone to a relatively serious one.

"Amy. We don't have much time, I have to talk to you about something, it's urgent."

Amy looked at me with concerned eyes and nodded, pulling up a chair and sitting on it. She gestured for me to do the same, in which I did. I knew this wasn't going to be easy, but here goes nothing.

* * *

_**PLEASE READ! IMPORTANT! :)**_

_**Sorry it's not as long as my normal chapters, but it is still pretty long! And as you can guess there may be a big heart-to-heart here. And it tried to include a new version of my Maltara fluffiness with a bit of action and whatever. (Queen of Maltara Fluff and some have been calling me, just wondering, does that name even suit me anymore?) Please tell me what you think and review for me? :) Thanks a bunch guys, I'll try to update tomorrow, because I've been slacking and I'm SOOOO sorry! **_


	7. Chapter 7

_Midpoint_

_**Hey, so like I said; I would try and update today! Tadah! :) I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone that reviewed, I saw the reviews this morning and just smiled so much, and then started writing immediately! Thanks again to everyone that reviewed and read! I know you're out there my silent readers and I appreciate you all too!**_

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_**Oryt (Myers) **__**– Haha okay your review seriously made me laugh! I couldn't put them in a fancy building, that would be to obvious ;) Ha! Mal's my babe! Awww sorry I made you cry! My bad... and ouch, that must have hurt. Haha wow okay then! QOGCoDF... boom. Haha indeed they do! Haha... maybe I shouldn't tell you then! Don't want you killing yourself here ;D Haha it's fine! Thanks again! (Is your PM working?)**_

_**Sierralim91 - Aww wow, just as I finished writing this chapter I got your review XD Thank you so much! You have no idea how much that means to me, I've never been told that I have brilliant ideas and plots or that I cankeep the pace nice! Your review honestly MADE MY DAY! :D Thank you! **_

_**PhoebePhorever (Phoebe) **__**– Hee! Thank you! Hahaha, that's brilliant! XD Awww wow, thank you and I'm so glad you loved it! Pro... never been called that before! :DDDD Well Jel ;) Awww no problem! :) You seem super nice! **_

* * *

_**Natara William's POV**_

I had taken off running down the opposite corridor, the other three members of Brimstone hot on my heels. For hackers, they were incredibly fast, but I was faster. I sprinted harder, skilfully turning the corners and looking for somewhere to hide, my legs burned and I was panting heavily but didn't stop.

"Stop! Come back here!" I heard a woman call from behind. "I swear bitch, when we get our hands on you..."

"Krystal, behave!"

I rolled my eyes and then I saw it; a large room stacked high with wooden boxes that almost reached the ceiling. They would provide enough cover for me to hide and get my breath back; I had to keep the members entertained for a short while, until Mal had gotten the chance to explain things to Amy. God knows how he'd pull it off, but knowing Mal, he'd find a way. Glancing behind me one last time, I bolted around a large box and began weaving in and out of the boxes, careful not to knock them or we could all be in trouble.

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

_**Mal Fallon's POV **_

I sat down beside Amy Chen, staring at the ground for a long moment. I had no idea how I was going to explain everything that had happened since her absence, but I had to try. It was my once chance to finally convince her to come back and help her heal emotionally. I had always wanted to help her get over Ken's death, but she shut everyone out and shown up for work late, practically throwing herself into her work to avoid talking to anyone. Now was my chance to fix things but I had to tread carefully or I might just push her away further.

"Amy," I started softly "there are so many things I wish I could talk to you about right now, but let me just get straight to the point. Amy, although it sounds _completely_ crazy... I died."

I saw Amy's eyes go wide and she leant back in her chair to gain a little distance, I could tell she thought I was insane so decided to continue explaining, sighing. She was going to be harder to convince than Natara.

"I know, but let me explain-"

"You... Died?"

"Yes, but only for a couple minutes. Thus, that is why I'm here now."

"Right... and you came to tell me this because?"

"Because Amy, when I was 'dead' I kind of... um... experienced something. Have you ever heard of the Midpoint?"

"Can't say I have Mal."

"Well anyway, I went there and saw some people that are dead."

"Mal..."

"Hear me out okay? I know, it sounds completely crazy, but Natara believes me because I could tell her something that no one but her would know. Unfortunately I can't do that with you, but I swear to God that I'm telling you the truth."

"Okay, I'll hear you out. But don't expect me to believe you just because Natara does."

"Thanks Amy," I reached over and placed my hand on hers and looked to the floor. "Anyway, I saw someone... who was very close to both of us, and he asked me to do something for him."

"Mal... If you're going where I think you are, stop now."

Amy's voice was sterner than I had ever heard before, but I couldn't stop now, no matter what.

"Amy. I saw Ken." I stated, looking her in the eye.

Amy's face turned into a hard, cold glare and she stood up, yanking her hand away. She blinked, trying to stop the flow of tears I could see forming in her eyes. She bit her lip and looked away as I stood up.

"S-Stop it." She whispered.

"I can't. You have to listen to me, he asked me to-"

"I said stop it!" she screamed, her voice echoing through the vast, empty room.

Tears started rolling onto her cheeks and I felt a wave of guilt was over me. I took a deep breath and decided to continue anyway.

"He asked me to talk to you and look after you," Amy covered her ears as tears continued to flow from her eyes freely, she muttered continuously for me to stop, but I couldn't. "I know you're confused Amy, and Ken just wants you to be happy and stop worrying about him. He's okay, and he loves you. He told me to tell you that."

Amy broke down, collapsing into my arms. I felt my heart wrench as she sobbed. She repeatedly hit my chest, screaming abuse into my shirt. I did the only thing I could think of and pulled her close, wrapping my arm around her, despite her resistance. I hated doing this to her, making her cry and hurt again, but it was the first step to healing and I'd help her through it. I swayed her gently when she eventually gave up and let me hold her, burying her head into my chest, sobbing quietly. I took a deep breath, holding back a few tears of my own as I whispered comforting things into her ear. I felt her legs buckle beneath her and her light weight started pulling me to the ground. I silently brought us both to the floor and sighed. We sat together in silence for a long moment until her tears ceased.

"W-why...?" she mumbled, breaking the silence. "Why is this happening?"

"I don't know Amy... I don't know."

"But, I thought it was over. I was trying, Mal. I was trying..."

Her soft voice trailed off and she shook her head, struggling to stop the tears that tried to force their way out of her large, russet eyes.

"I know Amy, but you don't have to do this alone. We've all been here for you, but you ran away."

"I-I don't fit in at the SFPD anymore. I can't face everyone anymore, Mal. Everything there reminds me of... of... _him._"

"Maybe that's not such a bad thing, think about it, this way he's still with you. But when you're here, can you find Ken again?"

"N-No... that's the point. I don't want to remember, because every time I do the pain comes back. It hurts... it hurts so much, Mal. I'm bad for people, everyone I care about ends up getting hurt somehow."

"No Amy, you are not bad for anyone, if anything having you absent is bad for people. We need you back, because I don't think I can take much more of Kai. Who else is gonna keep him in line for me?"

Amy giggled through the tears and wiped her cheeks with the sleeve of her purple jumper. She was finally beginning to calm down, but I knew I didn't have much time left. There was only so long that Natara could keep Brimstone occupied.

"And besides," I continued. "The pain you feel will stop. I promise you, and believe me I know how hard it is to get over someone you love dying. Although, if you want the pain to stop fully Amy, you have to face it head on. You can't keep running away from it all, because one day it's gonna catch up with you and believe me, it becomes one hundred times harder to deal with the longer you drag it out."

"I just want it to stop... please, Mal, make it stop."

"I promise, I'll help you, but you have to come with me and leave this behind."

"I... I can't."

"Yes you can Ames, come on."

"Ames...?"

"Oh, sorry."

"No... It's alright."

I stood up and helped Amy after. She wiped herself down and walked over to the computer station she worked at. She hesitantly grabbed her things and turned back to me. I smiled at her and extended my hand. A miniscule smile found its way onto her small lips and she slipped her hand into mine. I curled my fingers around her palm and as in on cue; Natara came bursting through a door on the opposite side of the room. She was panting heavily and her face was flushed. Seeing us, she ran over and fell to her knees, hanging her head.

"You have... no idea... what I've just... been through." She forced out between breathes. "You... owe me... Fallon."

"Well done my little ninja. Now come on, we have to get out of here."

Natara unsteadily rose to her feet and placed her hands on her hips, taking a deep breath. Moments later the members of Brimstone burst through the same door that Natara came through; a clear angry look written across their faces.

"There you are, Fallon and Williams! Let go of Kitten!" A young man yelled.

I pulled Amy closer to me and Natara took a defensive stand in front of her. Amy stood in silence for a long moment as they approached us. I glared at them, my hand brushing my holster just in case I needed my gun. After a long moment, the young man approached me, looking me in the eye.

"I said let her go."

"Get the hell outta my face, kid, before I beat you."

Natara reached over and placed her hand on my bicep, squeezing it lightly. I know she wanted to keep the situation calm, but this guy was seriously irking me. Without warning, Amy gently pushed past our barrier and approached him, taking his hand. I didn't let my grip on her go, fearing she'd run off again, but trusted her.

"Azrael... listen to me," She said softly. "They're my friends and... I think I have to go back. Mal has a point, I'm just running away here, and I just... don't know where I belong anymore."

I noticed Azrael's expression soften and he lowered his gaze to the floor. I took a risk and decided to release Amy's hand; she needed to make a decision like I had to when I went to the Midpoint. If she was truly happy here, then who was I to interfere?

I stepped back, gently taking Natara by the hand and taking her along with me. Natara looked at me with concerned eyes, but I just smiled at her and we walked to the door, patiently waiting to see what Amy does. I was a little nervous and hoped that I had done enough to convince her to come back. I missed her and I know Kai did too. Everyone did. The precinct simply wasn't the same without her cheerful attitude to brighten the place up, it had changed dramatically when Ken left but when Amy walked out the door, that just made everything so much worse.

I watched as Amy spoke to the members of Brimstone, explaining the situation. They glanced over to us with sad eyes before turning back to Amy and nodded solemnly. Azrael seemed to be taking this the hardest, because as the others walked away, he stayed. Amy slung her bag over her shoulder and looked to us. Natara smiled at her and I imitated her actions. I felt Natara lightly squeeze my hand and realized that I was holding her hand in mine still. I blushed lightly and went to pull away, but Natara tightened her grip and smiled at me.

I grinned like an idiot and looked away, focusing my gaze back to Amy and Azrael. They slowly walked over to us and Azrael took a deep breath, turning to Amy.

"Um... Good luck Kitten, I hope you find everything you've been looking for..."

Amy smiled sadly at him and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him close. Natara sighed dreamily and rested her head on my shoulder. I felt my cheeks burn and gulped. She could make me feel so vulnerable at times, not that I minded. Amy pulled away after a long moment and wiped her eyes.

"Goodbye Azrael... I'll miss you." She mumbled.

Azrael nodded and walked away, leaving us alone. Natara gently moved away from me and pulled Amy into a tight, meaningful hug. I watched as they conversed and giggled with each other for a short moment. They pulled away at the same time and I led them both outside, avoiding the broken floorboards and crumbling walls.

We got into my squad car and started driving back to the precinct. Natara and Amy sat in the back seat, catching up with each other and having the occasional giggle about the stupid things Kai had been getting up to.

I could tell that things were going to be okay now. It was obvious when you looked at the big picture. Amy was coming back and we were going to help her cope with Ken's death, Natara had gotten out of her relationship with Oscar and I'd finally get Kai off my back! Things were looking good. I'd finally completed everything Ken had asked me to do. There was just one last thing I needed to do...

* * *

After dropping Amy and Natara off at the precinct, I started driving to an all too familiar place. It didn't take long to get there and by the time I arrived, a light drizzle of rain had begun raining down. I took a deep breath and exited my car, starting to make my way across the dampening grass.

I was at the graveyard.

As I made my way down the rows of gravestones, I looked across the various names and the date of their deaths. Some were untimely while others seemed to have a long life. Eventually, I came to my destination. I stopped in front of the beautiful marble stone and sat down before it. It read:

_Kenneth Marcus Bartholomew Greene  
_

_1976-2012_

_Loyal Detective/Marine, Best-friend, Loving Brother and Son. _

'_He will never be forgotten in the hearts of those who knew him'_

I could barely read it, feeling the distant pain returning, but I stood my ground and began talking.

"Ken... I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm guessing so. I did it buddy, I did what you asked me to do and I promise you that I'll look after Ames. She's hurting still, but that's okay. We all are... or should I say I am." I sighed and closed my eyes, determined to stop myself from breaking. "I just... I miss you buddy. It's not the same without you. But I guess that I'll see you one day."

I looked up to the sky, covered with dark grey clouds. The rainfall hit my skin and rolled down my face, but I didn't care. Instead, I just smiled letting a single tear fall from my eyes and blend in amongst the raindrops. As I stood up, saying my Goodbye's to Ken once more, I noticed a single ray of light break through the sky and illuminate the area.

"Cheesy Ken, _very_ cheesy." I mumbled.

Then I walked away, the gravestone fading into the distance along with all the pain and heartache that I had felt. Instead of the grave being a distressing reminder of death, it was a place where you could talk to the ones you lost, and still keep in touch. In a weird way it was comforting, knowing that they were watching over us. We'd all see them again one day, and on that day, I knew that everyone I had lost would be waiting for me. But I could wait; I still had my whole life ahead of me after all.

* * *

_**Super sorry, that is the CHEESIEST ending EVER. But I hoped you all enjoyed reading Midpoint as much as I liked writing it. The end. :)  
**_

_**If you want an epilogue including the aftermath of getting Amy back and seeing if anything happens for Maltara, then let me know! Thanks again! And also, Thanks to everyone who called me QOMF! :') It means a lot! (Ugh, I'm actually tearing up now - bad memories...) **_


	8. Chapter 8 Epilogue

_Midpoint_

_Epilogue_

_**Hey everyone, as requested, here's the epilogue! Just to tie up some loose ends about how Amy got on back at the SFPD and if anything happens between Maltara! So enjoy and thank you so much to everyone that read, reviewed or subscribed! :)**_

* * *

_**Review Replies:**_

_**CoD-Sims-I-love – **__**Awww wow, thank you so much! So glad that you enjoyed it! :) Hee, it was a little cheesy indeed, but yeah! I wanted Amy to come back! I miss her!**_

_**Breezy Fan (Lisa) **__**– Thanks Lisa! Same here love Amy! Hahaha yeah, I included that in the last and second to last chapter, you have to admit though, Natara is kind of a ninja ;) haha that's a brill way of describing it XD Thanks! Here's the epilogue!**_

_**PhoebePhorever (Phoebe)**__** – Yes he did! Hahah thanks, Natara is like a ninja! Hee, no need to be nervous (but I was too!) Thank you! Other stories? I've finished all the ones I was working on, but am working on something new! ;) Yep! You are nice! :)**_

**Jupal**_** - haha yeah, well now I have! Hee, I thought you might! :D Aww wow, thank you so much! Hehehe, Thanks!**_

* * *

_**Natara Williams POV**_

_**Two weeks later...**_

Things had definitely improved ever since Amy had decided to come back to work at the SFPD and Mal helped me with the whole Oscar situation; I was over our relationship now and was actually thankful that I didn't do anything that I would have regretted.

Mal was allowed to come back to work last week and seemed to be in better spirits. Ever since Ken's death, things went downhill for everyone, but since Mal's little adventure I noticed a dramatic change in atmosphere around the entire precinct: Captain Yeong had finally regained control over the SFPD and seemed to relax more, only worrying about silly things that Seth would phone her about; Officers laughed and joked around with each other instead of tearing each other apart; Amy and Kai's banter could once again be heard from the Crime Lab; Blaise had mellowed slightly and I had been able to get along with her; and finally Mal had cheered up fully, cracking jokes often and making everyone laugh. It was good now. Everything was starting to get back on track.

"Morning my little ninja."

Mal came up behind me as I was viewing the scene in the bullpen and wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me close to him. I spun around in his embrace and smirked.

"Shhh!" I whispered, placing a finger over his soft lips. "You know that's my secret identity. No one can know."

Mal and I laughed together for a short moment before hearing a loud bang somewhere in the distance. We jumped and the entire bull pen went silent, their eyes falling on the stairs leading down to the Crime Lab. In moments Kai came bolting up the stairs, with Amy hot on his heels, chasing him. They had soot upon their clothes and their hair was ruffled. Explosion.

"Kai! Come here!"

"No! I'm sorry!"

"I swear, when I get my hands on you..."

Everyone laughed and shook their heads or rolled their eyes at the scene. Even Captain Yeong joined in, leaning against her door frame. Watching as the two Techs disappeared deeper into the precinct, I turned back to Mal. He still held me in his arms, smiling down at me. I returned a smile and felt my cheeks burn as I looked deep into his oceanic blue eyes.

When I first met Mal during the Maskmaker investigation and looked into his eyes, I noticed a few things. There was hurt and sorrow, but also joy and happiness. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but there was just something about them that was so mysterious. He was like a closed book, and the only way to find out more was to read on. I knew that there was still so much more to understand from those eyes, but I had uncovered part of the mystery that was Malachi Charles Fallon. He was one of the hardest cases to crack, and I was unsure if I ever would fully uncover _everything_, but I'd sure as hell try.

I forced myself out of my thoughts when I realized I had been staring into his eyes for far too long. I blinked a number of times and broke eye contact, directing my gaze to the floor and feeling my blush increase dramatically. I swear that he brought out the high school girl in me.

I felt Mal's finger trace my jaw line before finding its way to my chin and forcing me to look up again. I met Mal's hypnotizing gaze once more and smiled when I saw his reaction. He was flashing me his signature Fallon grin, which made my heart melt. I giggled – something that was extremely rare for me – and draped my arms around his neck.

"Shouldn't we be getting back to work?" I asked softly, trying to calm myself down.

Mal shrugged.

"I'd prefer to stay like this," He smirked "but whatever."

Mal swiftly slid out of my grip and leaned against his desk, picking up a file. I laughed and playfully slapped his arm. Stealing the file from him, I flipped through it and mentally analysed what we were dealing with. Luckily this case was a simple homicide instead of some psycho serial killer, so it wouldn't take too long to crack. Mal waited patiently for my mini profile, to which I willingly presented him. It was incredible how close Mal and I had become, and I felt like I was just going to blurt out everything I had wanted to say to him at any moment. I wanted him to know my feelings, but I also thought he was with Blaise. Before accepting Oscar's proposal, I had seen them together and heard Blaise over the phone. It had crushed me, and when she turned up at the hospital all those weeks ago, well that just made me doubt myself even more.

"Nat?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked to Mal, who was patiently waiting by the door.

"You coming, daydreamer?" He said with a smirk.

"Y-Yeah, sorry."

I followed Mal out the door and got in his car, driving to the address of our homicidal killer.

* * *

It had been a long day, after almost getting shot and arrested the SOB that took three innocent lives, Mal and I interrogated him before letting the judge decide his fate. I couldn't face Oscar, so Mal went and spoke to him about the case for me, while I waited in his office. Things between me and Oscar had been improving, but he was still hurting from our break up and sometimes took that out on me or the people around him, it was only natural though.

After finishing his talk with Oscar, Mal sauntered into his office and leaned against the door frame, smiling at me. I looked up to him and smiled slightly.

"Everything alright?" I asked

"Yep! Now..." Mal walked up to me and snaked his arm around my waist pulling me close, making me blush. "I was thinking that we grab some Chinese and maybe watch a film at mine?"

He flashed me a charming smile and looked at me expectantly. I pretended to think it over for a short while, biting my lip.

"Um... maybe, it depends..." I teased.

"Depends on what?"

"I want to pick the film."

"Ah hell, fine, but not some cheesy chick flick."

"I make no promises," I smirked and grabbed my jacket "Now come on!"

Mal chuckled and grabbed his jacket, following me out the door. We drove to the Chinese and ordered the usual before resigning at his apartment and watching _P.S I Love You. _Mal had protested at first, but I managed to convince him otherwise. Glancing over to him, I saw that he was at least watching it.

When we finished eating, Mal placed the empty boxes on the coffee table and leaned back in the chair. I imitated his actions and continued watching the film peacefully; it was getting to the good part after all! I was so engrossed in the film that I hardly noticed Mal glancing over to me with a smirk on his face. He slowly lifted his arm and draped it around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him. I looked away from the film and smiled at him, shuffling closer and leaning against his chest.

"Enjoying the film?" he whispered in my ear as he tucked some of my hair behind it.

"Yep, one of my faves." I whispered back, closing my eyes.

"That makes one of us" He groaned.

"Oh stop being such a grouch, it's an adorable film!"

"To you maybe."

I laughed and playfully hit his chest. Mal looked down at me and smirked, before starting to play with my hair, running it between his fingers. Either he was incredibly bored, or this was an act of affection. I hoped for the latter, but couldn't be sure.

"Mal..."

"Hmm?"

"... We can turn it off if you really want to," I looked up at him and smiled "I don't mind, I'm sure we can find something else to do."

"Like what?" he said raising an eyebrow.

I just shrugged. Mal flashed me a grateful smile and turned off the film, leaving the room in semi-darkness. He reached over and turned on a lamp, providing his living room with a comfortable, homey glow. I liked Mal's apartment, it was simple yet classy. I could hardly believe he did all this himself last Christmas. As I was looking round, I felt Mal's hand run down my side to my waist. I blushed slightly and focussed my attention on him.

The way the light hit his face left me speechless, he looked even more handsome than normal. His eyes lit up the room and before I knew it, I found myself lost in them again. I was still lying on his chest, so used my hand so push myself up and see his face more clearly. As I did this I realized just how close our faces were... kissing distance. My eyes flickered down to his lips; they looked so unbelievably soft and kissable. I don't know what came over me, but I started to lean in slightly, until I could feel his hot breath tickle my cheeks. Mal must have had a similar idea, because he leaned in also up to the point that I could feel his lips begin to brush against mine.

Then I realized what I was doing.

I was about to kiss Mal, my best friend, partner and boyfriend to Blaise Corso. What on earth was I thinking?

I immediately pulled away from him and looked him in the eye. The panic must have been written across my face, because Mal looked at me with concerned eyes.

"Nat, what's wron-"

"I'm sorry, I s-shouldn't have... I should go."

I tried to stand up, but Mal's grip on my waist prevented me from doing so. I felt so guilty. He wasn't mine, he was Blaise's. Because I couldn't get away, I just lowered me gaze to the floor and pushed away from Mal as far as I could accomplish.

"Nat... what's the matter?"

"We almost... I mean, sort of... it was wrong, I'm so sorry."

"Natara what are you talking about? Why is it so wrong?"

"Because... you're with Blaise..." I mumbled, feeling my heart wrench.

Mal scoffed. I looked at him quizzically.

"Natara. Is this about the phone call?"

"Um... partly."

"Nat, there is _nothing _between Blaise and I. I mean, she wanted something but... I don't feel for her in that way. You can imagine how that conversation went down."

I sat there, shocked. I was utterly speechless.

"W-What? But I thought-"

"Nope, nothing at all, because to be honest I'd rather be with... someone else."

He looked me in the eye and I felt my legs turn weak, thankfully I was sat down. My arms gave way and I stopped resisting. Mal smiled at me and I could feel the rapid increase of my heartbeat in my chest. Mal ran his hand through my hair before placing his hand on my cheek and drawing me in closer to him.

"M-Mal..." I whispered dreamily.

Before I could finish my sentence, I felt Mal's soft lips meeting mine. He pulled me closer to him and deepened the kiss; I swear my heart skipped a number of beats and I kissed him back, enjoying every movement. I couldn't believe this was happening right now. It felt like a dream, but it was all too real. I wrapped my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss further, never wanting to stop. After a long moment of pure bliss, Mal pulled away and rested our foreheads together. I couldn't stop the huge grin that flashed across my face, and saw that Mal couldn't either.

We sat together in each other's arms for hours after that, talking about random things and explaining all the times we had almost told each other our true feelings, having a laugh at our obliviousness. It was so obvious when you looked back on it.

As for Amy, she was on the right track to becoming her normal cheery self. Mal had been talking to her about Ken and helping her through the rough patches. Kai managed to keep her entertained throughout the day though, keeping her mind of Ken. At night, when she was alone, she sometimes called either Mal or me to discuss her problems, if she was having any. At times, we went down there and sat with her for hours, keeping her company. She was on the road to recovery finally and said she'd kept in contact with Azrael.

Like I said, things had _definitely _improved since Mal's little adventure. For everyone.


End file.
